While testifying in Matthew Apperson’s road rage trial Wednesday, George Zimmerman said he does not believe Black Lives Matter is a movement and referred to the group as “terrorist cowards.”

The statement came as Zimmerman was asked whether he provoked Apperson to fire at him. “I never associated Mr. Apperson with the Black Lives Matter terrorist group,” Zimmerman said.

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Apperson is charged with attempted second-degree murder. Authorities said he shot at Zimmerman during a traffic incident last year.

Zimmerman told officers he had been driving in Lake Mary when Apperson got behind his truck, yelled and fired a gun at his car a short time later, leaving a bullet hole in a window.

A police report said Apperson had a fixation on Zimmerman.

WESH 2 News contacted local members of Black Lives Matter for reaction to Zimmerman's remarks.

"It's George Zimmerman, there is no response," said Lawanna Gelzer, a Black Lives Matter member.

"He's ignorant and what he says does not matter to Black Lives Matter or to any other civil rights organization. He's irrelevant."

Gelzer explained that Black Lives Matter formed in 2012, after the acquittal of Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin.

"It was saying the lives of young people, especially African-Americans, matter," Gelzer said. "We're the ones with our hands up. We're the ones being shot and killed. So the person who said that...he's the terrorist."

Gelzer said the group's mission is successful as long as there's a public dialogue about the problem.

"No matter what Zimmerman or others say, we're not a terrorist group," Gelzer said. "We’re a social movement group. We're about social justice and we're going to keep moving forward until everyone understands. Until there's change, we're not going anywhere."

Zimmerman was acquitted three years ago in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old. That case sparked protests and a national debate about race relations.